Twice on my short life I have driven on old bias ply tires, and both times nothing happened when I was driving but when I switched them out, nearly all the tires practically fell apart when taken off the rims. If you can afford it, swing for new tires...
One of my cars I built in 1970 with Goodrich Radial TA's and they are still perfect. I think a lot has to do with exposure to the sun ultraviolet rays
I am a manager at a tire store close to a freeway and see the damage car tires can cause when traveling at 65mph. My kids would never travel with my knowing it on old tires. Dry rotted tires allow moisture and air between the the plys causing it to seperate.I have seen bias seperate also but usually as damaging when it happens.
It really has to do with the design differences between bias and radials. The rubber in the sidewalls on a radial provides a lot of the sidewall strength where as a bias the cords do the job. The rubber does age over time and old bias would probably wear faster than normal. But as Squirrel says I'll take the old bais over even 10 year old radials!!
Sure, throw em right on your ex-wife's divorce attorneys car. I've heard that bias ply tires, IF PROPERLY STORED, can be ok for quite some time. However, you do NOT know how they have been stored. This mainly relates to ozone exposure causing degradation of the rubber that's not visible. However the consensus is that it's a bad idea anyhow. Shame, because I have a set of 8.00 or 8.20-15 Goodyear Double Eagles in storage that look perfect. Man do they look cool too.
It depends. How much insurance do you have on the kid? Kidding. Like all others here, I wouldn't and you shouldn't either.
Thank you Don for posting this vid,its a real eye open,r.Again thanks from the heart..........................YG
I think you guys are worriers. I picked up a '79 ford f100 that had been t-boned a few weeks after it was new, this was in '99. The tires were like new, it had been parked indoors all its life. (it was a fleet vehichle for a carpet cleaners). I ran that thing up and down the coast untill the tires needed replacing, never had a lick of problem. I think the newer tires must have a better forumla to them than the oldies. I wouldnt have stuck a kiddo behind the wheel, but for me, eh.
I know that modern tires have production dates on them. Is this the case with older tires? How can you really verify the age of a tire if you are buying them? Even at a dealer, they could have been there for a long time.
As they say in army aviation , you can ride them right on into the crash site! Well something like that!
Tires have had a date code on the sidewalls since the 80s. You can search for the gory details. So, no code date means REAL old.
I've got a Firestone wide whitewall that date-codes to about '58-'59 that I rescued from a garage over in Mar Vista. Got most of its tread and the whitewall is smooth, not crumbly. I was going to use it as a spare on my Edsel but I think it would be a lot safer in a display rack...
There is nothing more eye opening than jumping out of your late model family sedan into a 50's or 60's car a seeing just how crappy they really drove. and usually it's because of bias ply tires. The ride and safety of today's tires is well worth the investment.
I had some neat looking old Goodyear 6.00x16's on the front of my roadster till one of them lost 1/3 of its tread on the freeway. I don't screw around with old tires anymore.
Hmmm... I JUST got home after a 450 mile or so round trip in my 54 Ford. With bias ply tires. I was cruising with traffic on the jersey turnpike (75-80 mph) No problems and the car was nice and smooth. Maybe not quite as responsive as my OT M5 but neither is a 2012 ford fusion.
I think on this forum you might find a whole lot of us who disagree with that statement. Our cars will never be 2012 Rolls Royce smooth, but we don't want them to be either. Don
I feel bad about getting my old roadster chassis out of the garage and having to buy new tires. The WSW bias ply fronts were new but old when I installed them in 1988 to replace the really old VW ones that were used when installed in 1969 and the rears are WSW Cordovan radials that I installed in 1989 to replace the used rockhard Firestone 500 dual white stripe tires installed in 1969 when the original builder installed them . They've been holding up a lot of iron in the garage for quite a few years now and still hold air and look good. BUT I wouldn't send my kids out on them or my wife either. I, on the other hand, probably won't be able to resist at least a trip or two around the neighboorhood before I install new ones.
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